Jaguar Volleyball Drops Set To FIU, Ends Season
Senior Olivia Mohler against Jackson State earlier in the season.
The South Alabama Jaguar Volleyball team ended their season Saturday night with a loss to Florida International. The Jags took a 2-0 set lead but saw the Panthers rally to capture the match 3-2 (25-17, 26-24, 19-25, 20-25, 13-15).
“The team that we put out on the floor tonight fought hard the whole match and that’s all we can ask for, but we have to get better as we move forward to next year,” Jaguar head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. “Overall, I think we had some good leaps this season, but we definitely took some losses here in the last six matches. It’s going a big lesson learned for us going into the future. We have to work harder and get toughter.”
With the loss and missing the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the Jags will say goodbye to five seniors. Olivia Mohler, Lindsay Schwartz, Katariina Kananen, Elina Strautniece and Valerie Podczasy.
“Olivia and Lindsay left it all out on the floor tonight and unfortunately we weren’t able to pull it out for them tonight,” Hendrichovsky said. “I appreciate their hard work and their effort tonight. I wish all five of our seniors the best as they move on to the next stage of their lives.”
The Jags were led offensively by a pair of seniors in Schwartz and Mohler. Schwartz led the team with 19 kills, a career high, on 34 attacks and committed just two attack errors for an even .500 hitting percentage in her final collegiate match. Mohler posted 16 kills on 36 attacks. She also led the team at the net with six total blocks, two solo and four assists.
Thank you Olivia, Lindsay, Katariina, Elina and Valerie! Jag Nation appreciates your hard work, determination and representation of the Jaguar volleyball program. We wish you the best in the future and always remember Jaguars are Jaguars for life.
Jaguar Volleyball To Close Out Home Schedule This Weekend
South Alabama Volleyball will close out the home portion of their schedule this weekend when they welcome MTSU and #19th ranked Western Kentucky.
They will face the Blue Raiders at 7pm on Friday then Western Kentucky at noon on Sunday.
“This weekend we will face two teams with two different systems and strengths,” South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. “Middle Tennessee is an aggressive and physical team that will run a fast offense and use their speed to earn points. Western Kentucky is a very disciplined team that is playing consistent and error free volleyball. For us to be successful, we will also look to be aggressive and focus on taking care of the ball on our side. I know our team will compete and look for them to play relaxed and enjoy being at home.”
The Jaguars will honor it’s five seniors, Katariina Kananen, Olivia Mohler, Elina Strautniece, Valerie Podczasy and Lindsay Schwartz.
The Jags will enter this weekend with a 13-13 overall record and 6-5 record in Sun Belt play. They are in a three way tie for the 4th best record in the conference with Arkansas State and North Texas. Currently the Jags would be a 6 seed due to tiebreakers.
Go Jags!!
USA Volleyball Drops Match To Troy On Saturday
The Jaguar volleyball team has dropped it’s last two matches at home after starting 6-0 on the season at home.
The two teams battled for second place in the Sun Belt’s Eastern Division. Melissa Waelter led the Jags with her eighth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs. Seniors Olivia Mohler and Lindsay Schwartz also were in double digits in the match offensively. Both also had solid defensive play with six and five block assists respectively. Jenna Hassell and Savannah Stewart both had 14 digs.
Troy had three players in double digits for the match.
The Jags (13-13, 6-5 SBC) will close out the home portion of its regular season when they welcome Middle Tennessee State on Friday at 7pm and then #19 Western Kentucky at noon on Sunday.
Jaguar Volleyball Prepares To Open Sun Belt Play This Week
The South Alabama Lady Jaguar volleyball team will begin their Sun Belt Conference schedule this week when they play against Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.
The Jags enter Sun Belt play with a 7-7 record after going 2-2 this past weekend at the Springhill Suites Invitational. They defeated Jacksonville State and Savannah State in straight sets. But lost two matches to tournament host Georgia State and Wisconsin both 3-1.
Both MTSU and WKU were chosen to finish at the top of the Eastern Division of the Sun Belt Conference in a preseason poll. On Thursday the Jags will open up against MTSU at 7pm at Alumni Memorial Gym then they will play WKU at 1pm on Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena against WKU.
Web streaming of the MTSU match will be available online while live stats for both matches will be available at the Jaguars official website www.usajaguars.com.
The Jags are led by three very talented players in Senior Olivia Mohler and Junior Jenna Hassell, who ranks fourth in the lead in digs, along with freshman outside hitter Savannah Stewart who has stepped up her game since the beginning of September.
Head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said that, “Starting off the Sun Belt schedule playing Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky will be a great opportunity to immediately show us where we stand against those teams that are typically competing for the championship each year. I fully expect our team to walk in both gyms looking to compete at a high level.”
“We are excited and ready to compete,” Hendirchovsky continued. “The team has worked hard through the preseason tournaments to improve and grow. We have learned many things about our team and my hope is we continue to improve throughout conference play leading into the conference tournament.”
Jag Volleyball Starts Season Well
The South Alabama Volleyball team had a great start to the season over the weekend. After an opening loss to Central Arkansas, they rebounded and defeated Southern Miss (straight sets) and Louisiana Tech to start the season 2-1.
Jenna Hassell and Olivia Mohler were both named to the Southern Miss Invitational All-Tournament team for their efforts. This win over La. Tech was the Jags first since the 2000 season.
Mohler let the Jags on both sides of the net for the last two matches in a row. In the win over La. Tech, Mohler had 14 kills, five block assists, and hit .423. Melissa Waelter added 12 kills while Lindsay Schwartz added 10. Jaguar setter Katariina Kananen had 39 assists and 16 digs for her 15th career double-double. Junior libero added 15 digs of her own.
The Jags will head to St. Louis, Mo. for the Active Ankle Challenge hosted by St. Louis. They will open against Southern Illinois at 4:30pm on Friday.
Jaguar Volleyball Opens Season This Weekend In Hattisburg
The South Alabama Jaguar volleyball team is set to open the 2012 season this weekend in Hattisburg, Mississippi when they compete in the Southern Miss Invitational. It’s a two day, three-match tournament that begins on Friday with two matches. The Jags will face Central Arkansas at 11am then turn around to face the USM Golden Eagles at 7pm. Then on Saturday they will face Louisiana Tech at 3pm.
This will be head coach Amy Hendrichosky’s first season as the Jaguars volleyball coach. Hendrichovsky believes that success lies early in the non-conference schedule by minimizing errors. “First-and-foremost, I would say that it’s going to be about minimizing unforced errors. Leading into the first weekend any year, it’s about the team that’s making the least amount of errors that’s going to win the match.”
“Something we’ve also been focusing on during the spring and the summer is just about competing for each point,” she continued. “I think our team’s excited and ready to go and start this year’s new journey.”
Hendrichovsky came to USA in December from Middle Tennessee State, one of the top programs in the Sun Belt. As an assistant at MTSU, she was primarily focused on player development, game preparation, planning and scouting opponents and recruiting. While with MTSU, she helped the team go to six-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, four Sun Belt tournament titles (’06, ’07, ’09 and ’10) in addition to three regular-season championships (’06, ’07, ’10). During that time MTSU had 24 players honored as All-Sun Belt, eight SBC All-Tournament selections and nine AVCA All-Region and All-American selections. She also coached two Sun Belt Players of the Year (’07 and ’10).
Hendrichovsky played at the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama and was a four-year starter for the perennial power as they were routinely one of the Top 10 programs in NCAA Division II. She graduated from UNA in 2001 and is a native of Boca Raton Florida.
There are eight letterwinners and three starters returning from last years team. Katariina Kananen is one of the returnees, she ranked third in the Sun Belt in assists per match with just under 9.9.
Sophomore outside hitter Melissa Maelter and junior libero Jenna Hassell are also returning for the Jags. Waelter was the top defensive threat with 244 kills and averaged just under 2.6 per set. Hassell anchored the back court with an average of 3.8 digs per set, seventh in the Sun Belt.
Olivia Mohler, who started all 28 matches and competed in every set for the Jags in 2011. As a junior, she moved from middle blocker to outside hitter and had her best offensive season at South Alabama. She finished third on the team with 232 kills and kills per set with 2.34. She led the team in solo blocks (7), block assists (76) and blocks per set (0.84). Additionally she ranked fourth on the team in service aces with 22. She was named to UCF Classic and Colonel Classic All-Tournament teams.
Redshirt sophomore Torlandria Jones returns from missing the 2011 season with a knee injury. As a freshman she tallied 74 blocks. Lindsay Schwartz, who returns after two seasons away to focus on track. She ranks among Jaguar career leaders in both block assists and blocks per set. While focusing on track, she won All-America honors and several Sun Belt Championships in multiple events.